Cancer Survivor Ready To Fly
(May 25, 2010) |
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Air Force Senior Airman Brian Petras sits in the
cockpit of a C-130 Hercules, May 11, 2010, on
the flightline at Little Rock Air Force Base,
Ark. Diagnosed with cancer in 2009, he returned
to duty less than a year after surgery to remove
part of his right leg. He is a flight engineer
with the 50th Airlift Squadron. U.S. Air Force
photo by Senior Airman Steele C.G. Britton |
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LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark., May 20, 2010 – One year
ago, Air Force Senior Airman Brian Petras was flying C-130
Hercules missions around the world.
Since then, the flight engineer was diagnosed with cancer,
underwent extensive surgery, recuperated, returned to all
duties except flying and passed his physical fitness test
with no score adjustments.
And he passed with just one foot. Petras, 24, has 700
deployed flying hours from two deployments, and he's a
cancer survivor.
Last summer, after icing his sore foot for a month and
seeing no improvement, he went to the doctor. "It started
out as kind of like a lump on my foot, like a swelling," he
said, "and I just thought it was a sprained muscle or
something."
After a month and a half of tests and treatments, Petras
learned he had a malignant tumor and said that doctors would
have to amputate his right foot.
"I was shocked," he said. "But since I ... knew it was
definitely going to happen, I just decided I could either
stay positive or feel sorry for myself. I've just been
trying to go on as normal as possible."
Before his surgery, Petras enjoyed biking, running and
snowboarding. Since his surgery, he not only
enjoys all of the |
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same activities, but also has become even more
active. |
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He recently rode his bicycle 350 miles across Texas in six
days, and later this month he will begin a two-month,
4,000-mile coast-to-coast bike ride from San Francisco to
Virginia. The trip, organized by World Team Sports, is
called "The Face of America: Sea to Shining Sea Ride."
In the ride, Petras will join about a half dozen injured
servicemembers from each of the military branches, along
with a few civilians, to raise money for charities.
Petras said his desire to returning to flying was a major
factor that motivated him to recover and return to work so
quickly.
"I just enjoy flying," he said, "I can't stand sitting
around. I like traveling. I like just being on the flight,
and I like the challenge of it.
"As of right now, I'm 95 percent back to normal,” he
continued. “There's really not much holding me back. I can
run, snowboard, ride a bike, pretty much do anything. I can
do everything I could before. I feel 100 percent confident I
can go back and do my job without any problem."
Despite his unshakable positive attitude, the road to
recovery hasn't been easy.
"The first couple of months were pretty rough," he
acknowledged. He healed for six weeks after the Aug. 24
amputation before he got a prosthetic leg. In the middle of
September, he started the first of four rounds of
chemotherapy that spanned three months.
"It was one week on, then three weeks off to recover," he
explained.
He got his prosthetic leg shortly after his first round and
began rehabilitation between subsequent rounds.
"That was pretty rough,” he admitted. “The chemo pretty much
knocked me out. I had almost no energy. I felt sick. I
really couldn't do much. I could barely take care of myself.
Luckily, I was able to get a prosthetic [leg] and walk
around without crutches and still do certain things, but I
was still really tired."
Petras went home for Christmas after his final chemotherapy
session, and in January he went to the Center for the
Intrepid at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio.
"It specializes in care for amputees and burn victims," he
said, "It's mostly guys coming from Iraq and Afghanistan
that are there. But they do a really good job.”
His time at the center gave him perspective, Petras said.
“Here's me with a below-the-knee amputation, rehabbing and
getting done in three months, and there are guys who've been
there for years,” he said. “They're missing both of their
legs, they're missing [legs] above the knee, they're missing
arms and hands, or 90 percent of their body is burned, and
me coming in there is like a scratch. It's not a big deal at
all.
"Those guys are very inspiring,” he continued. “Some of the
guys, with the stuff they're going through, have just as
good an attitude as I have, so we all kind of helped each
other. To [the other patients], you're no different; you
don't get treated any different."
Petras said he was very pleased with the care he received at
the center. "The people who worked at the [Center for the
Intrepid], they're just really good at their jobs, from the
physical therapists, to the occupational therapist to the
psychologist there. Everybody cared about us and made sure
we got the best training possible or the best rehabilitation
possible. They did a really good job."
He added that he's especially grateful for the care he
received from John Wood, his recovery care coordinator, and
Lauren Palmer, his medical case manager. They were “two
people who helped me out immensely. Not even just medical
stuff, but anything," he said.
"I don't like to consider myself handicapped. ... I feel
normal," he added.
The Bloomsbury, N.J., native said he continues to look to
the future.
"The biggest thing I want to convey is that I don't see it
as a serious problem right now,” he said. “I see it as a
minor inconvenience, and I want other people to treat me
like that. I think of this thing as a pair of glasses. For
me, it's something that takes me five extra minutes to get
out of bed in the morning. ... The biggest challenge for me is
taking a shower standing on one leg. ... Some people have
injuries that are not as visible as mine, yet they're not
even as mobile as me. I don't limp, I can run, I can do
whatever.
"I don't want my accomplishments to be thought of as 'Brian
the amputee' did something,” he added. “I don't like that. I
want it to just be 'Brian' did something. I want to be
treated like it's not that big of a deal. I don't feel
handicapped. ... As far as I'm concerned, I was ready to
[return to flying] in January." | |
By USAF Capt. Joseph Knable, 19th Airlift
Wing
American Forces Press Service
Copyright 2010
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